Slippery
by Aiko Isari
Summary: He tried to be good. It just didn't work. She however, fell right into place. 'Sequel' to Abstracts.
1. 1

Seeing the Tsukaimon run through the Thriller Ruins made his fingers twitch. Koh ignored it. Damn, it was tempting to go after them. It had been an urge for weeks now. It would round out his fighters, as least until he could find someone better.

But he couldn't think that anymore. He was a Light Fang now, not Julia's pet cat, not the Tamer Union spy. He was Koh of Light Fang, and the Puttimon he was training meant more than the Kuramon he had wanted to keep. So he went against every instinct that said jump in and kill and went towards heal, or kill with speed. It was like eating gluten if you had an allergy. The more angel dust he inhaled, the more dizzy he got by the end of the day and not even his Tamer Home could get all of it out of his clothes.

It didn't help that Puttimon was always so devoted to him, always poking at him and sitting in his lap and taking his strength like it was meant for him. It wasn't fair. He wasn't supposed to _like_ this job.

But he did. He liked Glare and he liked his Digimon and he liked his new friends and the brightness of Sunshine City. It was so much easier to see.

He just, he couldn't be _good_.

The looks he got from his friends when he played a bit dirty, or covered his eyes at the afternoon sun, or when he could avoid everyone in Thriller Ruins like it was nothing, they were a bad sign. That meant they were getting suspicious.

He tried to stop. He couldn't. No matter how many Digimon he scanned or training fights he won, he was still different. He still couldn't stop. It just felt _right._

Glare knew. He had to know. The way he looked at Koh told him how see through he really was. It wasn't fair. If he knew, then he ought to let him do what he wanted, say it was a new fighting technique against the Night Claw. Learn their ways.

But he never came forward and Koh knew he was too chicken to admit it himself. So he went along with the game, along with the easygoing cheer that was Light Fang until war broke out.

Then he met _her_ , and his hackles rose.

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ Goodness, that outing took a while. Anyway, please read and review! If you have not read Abstracts, you really may not need to but you ought to to get the gist of the backdrop. Sort of.

 **Challenges:** Pairing Diversity Boot Camp prompt 1 'tension', Gameverse Boot Camp prompt 13 'judicious', what-if challenge, 28 Days of Love day 17: write about a gameverse ship, Diversity Writing Challenge H22. write a fic that is T rated, and Jigsaw Puzzle challenge number 8.


	2. 2

2.

Sayo.

Sayo, who smelled like angel dust and star trails.

Sayo who smelled like Ofanimon's wings and had sharp teeth and a pretty, sweet smile that would kill him one day.

She was a puppy rabbit, her white pups at her heels every second the rabbit was nowhere to be seen. She smiled at him like she meant it, looking at him from across the battlefield like there wasn't a challenge to be had, only a game.

Like him. She was exactly like him.

The only problem was that she was _better._

She seemed like it at least. Her pups played dirty, evolving into cats like it was ordinary, just to make her laugh. Her laugh gave her away, too clear, not enough malice. She sparkled. It was brightness. It was annoying. How his former friends (he hadn't seen them in two years) didn't see the light when they grew up nocturnal and chasing monsters was beyond him. Damn them. How unfair.

The commanders had probably thought of it together, to see how long it took the other tamers to notice two of their own weren't right. They never would, of course. Koh was good at this. Even his slip ups didn't get more than a raised eyebrow and a few names across the cafeteria.

Still. That girl made his skin crawl.

She probably noticed. No wonder she laughed.

He would expose her, somehow. If only because it seemed like fun, that was exactly what he would do. Then he'd be the one laughing.


	3. 3

"You're okay, right? Seriously?"

Sayo wanted to sigh. _Wanted to_ was the key there. She wasn't going to. Taiga would just worry more. Hen. It was nice, but… he was such a hen. He almost wished she hadn't managed to get communication back online with him. Of course, reaching him despite the efforts of that strange light was a good sign. She cracked her shoulder.

"Do you expect anything less?" she finally replied, smirking a little. Goodness, she never realized how freeing it was to do that and know what it _meant_. "Taiga-san," she interrupted him before he could open his mouth. "I'm _fine._ I almost prefer you younger. You didn't know how to panic this thoroughly. You can't afford gray hair at your age."

The man huffed, sitting back in his chair. "You just keep getting cheekier over there, I swear." He tugged the goggles at his neck without thought.

Tailmon purred in her lap and Sayo reached to stroke one white ear. Silly pups had almost gotten her in trouble. It was a good thing she still knew how to lie. "It's customary after being around here. The chief has an interesting sense of humor."

"So I've heard. If Yuuya trained her, then she has to." He glanced at something she couldn't see and waved a dismissive hand.

Sayo barely understood why he had said that at first, cycling through the old memories like a loosely organized data folder. Then she snorted, despite herself. "It doesn't seem as though Glare is much better." What little she had seen of him in the past few years cemented that. Or even of that boy...

Taiga laughed. Even now, years later, he still had a nice laugh. "Well, no, he's not, but Akiho is only nice when you're not her apprentice."

Sayo tucked that note of information away for future reference. It was certainly entertaining. Thinking of it, and thinking of Glare, made her think of Koh, and that caused her to smile.

"What's with that face," Taiga said. He crossed his arms over the cashmere sweater. Every bit of her wanted to burn that off of him, just on general principle. Or even rip it off, though no one would appreciate that. He raised an eyebrow. "Sayo, what are you planning to do?"

Sayo was grateful he didn't say her old name, so that was enough to get her to answer, at least in part. "Just thinking of a boy."

Taiga sputtered. He hadn't even been drinking anything. He should look into that. "A… boy?"

"He and I fought in the Normal Tournament before communications went down." She smiled lazily, knowing _exactly_ what that would look like to him. He always said that was her old habit, to smile and act like everything was normal when she had no idea what normal was. Sayo, considering her tenuous position as a spy, wasn't surprised. She wished he would just stop _talking_ about it though. "He's like me except he smelled like aconite." She giggled. "He can't seem to get it off of his hands."

"Gotta wonder who came up with the idea first. Did he dye his hair?" Taiga sounded amused. This really sounded to him like something his friends would have come up with.

Sayo thought about it. "Can you get hair that bright of orange?"

"Says you with the purple," he shot back.

She sniffed. "Natural, I'm afraid. I even asked the doctors."

He snickered then let out a sigh. "I can't help you from down here."

Her eye twitched. "I'm a bit too deep for anyone to help me at this point." Tailmon rolled over in her lap.

Taiga shook his head. "You know what I mean, Mirei."

Sayo felt her eye twitch again. He just couldn't let it go, could he? "Kiss Yuuya-san for me." She cut off the call before he could answer, then buried her head in her hands. Tailmon frantically butt her head against Sayo's neck. She reached to pet her, wiping her eyes.

Taiga just could not catch a hint, could he?


	4. 4

Sunshine was a mess.

There was no other way to put it. This looked like Darkmoon after Julia's marriage except bad. Most of the Digimon were down and out, and the hit Tamers weren't much better.

Koh grimaced. Would the Night Claw really cause this, his team of practical jokers and sneaks? They wouldn't benefit from breaking the Center Bridge and destroying the way for suppliers? Probably not. It would make them dependent on Night Claw for ages. As entertaining as that would be from the rival standpoint, it wouldn't exactly be helpful in the long run, and the drain would be enormous. But… they had no contact with the other side. The connection to the outside world was almost fully repaired and he wasn't sure what that would mean, or if they had any answers.

Considering the founders of CITY, he had to wonder. He had never met the the group who had exclusively worked on creating Sunshine and Darkmoon, or at least its foundation, but he saw their handiwork everywhere in his two commanders.

Glare barely nodded at him as he left. He had hardly paid attention enough to give Koh his mission before going back to the monitor. Whatever his ideas were, they weren't something Koh needed to think about.

A horrible idea floated into his mind as he exited the teleporter. Did Glare suspect _him?_

He giggled to himself a few seconds later, feeling decidedly unhinged and more at home in the too bright city walls as he did so. The thought of that excited him. What if he was a _threat_?

Well, he would just have to prove otherwise, wouldn't he? This was the ultimate challenge, the almighty Light Fang getting saved by a Night Claw.

It shouldn't have excited him, but it did.

He wondered if the thought would excite Sayo too.

If he did this, he would beat her. That was the icing on the cake.


	5. 5

There was no such place as Limit Valley until last week.

Koh was never side eyed more until this week. He grinned. That was good. That was so good. Let them be suspicious as he helps in fights. Let them be suspicious as he wins fights. He has nothing to gain from betraying them; he has everything to gain from proving their expectations wrong.

He got an email from his sister when the communications came back up. It chided him, warned him, made noises of exasperation and sorrow at their parents. His stomach flipped and churned.

He hated those old farts so much.

It was why he was here. He could get her away from there, soon. With this, he could. No one would protest. If he was a hero, he could save his sister and give her a place to smile.

But where to start?

On a mission he saw her. Sayo. She was wandering Chip Forest, eyes on the cats trailing around her feet. She didn't look up at him once. The cats do.

So, she had to know. How unfair.

He couldn't get that smile out of his head. He couldn't get the smile she wore in the tournament, even as he knocked her to the ground and beat her face in and her cats dogpiled him and broke his ability to breathe, out of his head. He couldn't get the mirth, the joy, the odd, fleeting, coiling amusement out of his head.

How was a girl like that a Light Fang?

He needed to look.


	6. 6

"Mother?"

It wasn't the first time Sayo had found Julia resting her eyes at her desk. The woman worked harder than she let on. It was one of her better qualities. She slipped to the door on the other side of the room, letting her mother doze. Peering her head through, she looked at Duke, the regal knight standing at attention with his arms crossed. He peered down at her with one cold, blue eye.

"Is she asleep?" he asked. She nodded and he let out a sigh. "Wonderful. Do you mind getting her bed ready? Glare won't be home tonight."

Sayo nodded again and went to do so. It used to bother her a little, that her parents had to work on opposite sides of the CITY she had grown up in. It used to bother her that their schedules rarely aligned over the years, but she had grown to understand: adulthood was funny that way. It didn't mean they loved each other any less, though people thought it would.

 _If only it made Taiga pine any less._

"Is he all right," she asked aloud. Her father's side was cut off from Darkmoon and gods did she miss him. Half the reason she had gone into Light Fang at first was for him, to keep an eye on him as the exhaustion wore on his shoulders.

ChaosDukemon shook his head, carrying her mother like she was little more than a doll. She knew her partners could do that if they tried, even though it was really _weird_. She wasn't sure she liked the idea of being helpless enough to be carried places by anyone that wasn't her parents. "He and Ophanimon have been jittery as of late. He's been spending even less time at home, you notice."

Sayo agreed, expression shifting to a frown. Even though she tended to stay at her own Tamer Home, she had noticed his absence over the past few weeks. "Everything is disconnected," she mused.

"Quite." Chaos Dukemon kept his voice soft as he carefully changed Julia's clothes. Sayo politely turned away, even though this was her mother. She should not have been embarrassed and wasn't. Still. "By the way," he continued casually. "Someone tried to hack into your account."

Sayo's eyebrow quirked as she went to tuck the comforter over her mother's neck. She had slept peacefully throughout, a true symbol of her utter exhaustion. "They got through my security."

The fallen knight led her from the room, voice low. "Hardly," he said, patting her hat, the most affection she had ever felt him give. "Your security is top notch and he was no hacker. I've tracked him, if you're curious."

Sayo smiled. Ah, she knew who it was. "That boy Mother picked."

ChaosDukemon smiled back behind his helmet, a rare occurrence to be sure. "Aye."

"He wants to play," Sayo said, mostly to herself. She whistled for her cats. "I shall oblige him."


	7. 7

When Koh woke up that morning, he couldn't get into Sunshine.

Shine Plaza's icon blinked red on his screen, with 'YOU'RE NOT AUTHORIZED' in big letters below the name.

Koh swore. Loudly.

Damn you, Glare. What are you _doing_?

"You and Julia _put me_ on this damn assignment, what the hell? I know you did!"

No answer. Of course not. Then again, they never did answer voicemails. Not outright anyway. There was no mail. He sighed. "So much for taking on a Union Quest." He went back to his bed and laid down, grimacing at the sky. He had probably gotten caught in the files. He couldn't think of any other reason why they would just cut off his Digivice access that easily.

It wasn't like he had gotten much information anyway., except for that whole 'Glare and Julia show their love for each other by fighting life or death battles and pitting their pet projects harmlessly against each other' but seriously _everyone_ knew that.

Then, as he flopped down on his bed, feeling grumpy as all hell, it clicked. Koh started to laugh. "Oh, that is _good_." He laughed until his sides hurt and his partners were crawling to check on him. He pet them before he could stop himself, still laughing. Yeah, that was it. That was _exactly_ it.

"Sayo's practically royalty..." He laughed again and pulled up his interface. There were very few people who could make a demotion on someone's account: seconds, commanders, and relatives. There was no way she was the first two, so the last was the only other way to do it. And Julia and Glare had never been subtle with their relationship.

So then, that left one question: why were he and Sayo jerked around like this? He'd have to ask her. He'd probably enjoy getting the answer.

Then again, revenge was also involved. He _hated_ being publicly humiliated without a good comeback.


	8. 8

Resistor Jungle, for anyone who cared, was a maze of vines and annoyance.

Koh hated the damn place almost as much as he hated Loop Swamp. That was a universal target of dislike apparently so hey, it was something.

For starters, the entire place was _muggy_ and _hot._ It was like a sauna that didn't know how to end. The second problem was that every Digimon who lived in it was _pissed._ Everyone swore up and down and sideways that it was something in the water. Something that made everything all levels of mad.

And yet, here he was, following the path. Here he was in his hellhole. He kept walking, Coronamon sniffing and sneering at passing fools who dared to lunge for him. They were dead in seconds. He didn't know what they expected. He smiled as he walked. He could smell them, his old team. Machine parts and poison flowers.

It was like coming home, except with more violence.

The first attacker, a rookie he had never met, got a hit, wrapping around his throat with the intent to choke. He flipped him over, regretting it when the foot lodged in his back. He swore, and Coronamon and Kudamon lunged for the throat. He barely remembered to tell them to stop.

Not that it mattered. The clearing exploded with fighting and blood and a strange, metallic ringing in his ears.

Even so, the kid was wet behind the ears. He wasn't much to worry about. Within a few minutes, he was down, pinned by Koh's extra weight. The boy groaned.

"Defeat Light Fang..." he grumbled. "Kill…, kill the traitors… kill the cured..."

Koh turned and looked down. A smirk played at his mouth. "You're a crap Night Claw, aren't you?" he asked rhetorically. "I've never known one to be upfront about their problems. But that makes it easier, doesn't it?"

He moved to get up, to start asking questions, when a painful electric shock ran up his back. He hitd the ground and someone kicked him over onto his back.

He knew that beanie.

"Hi Newton," Koh said.

His answer was a kick in the mouth and another electric shock.


	9. 9

Damn it. Newton was _competent_ when he wasn't thinking. Good to know. Koh rolled and kicked him in the face. Thank goddess for long legs. He backflipped, landed all fours, leaps forward to tackle him in the stomach. Kokuwamon flashes and in its place is a silver android whose arm starts to spin.

Koh can only stare. "Oh _shit_." He jumps and now he really can't hesitate. "Kudamon! Flash!"

His body ached even as the Holy Ring did its job and blinded the human. The Digimon continued, unafraid as Coronamon grew into a monster that really, he should be afraid of. It was not as strong but Coronamon has always made up for shit with sheer willpower. Firamon threw fireballs and got smacked on the nose for his trouble.

Newton snapped forward. "You left us." His voice was toneless, but the words still hurt, less than the hits actually.

"Yeah, on orders." he snapped, curling up like the cat he was now.

"You could have said no. Traitor." Face punch, easier to duck than the stomp on his foot. Koh rolled with it, spinning back to hit the throat. The problem with fighting a Night Claw as a Light Fang was that he was one, so he knew how to kill one. Doing so was the equivalent to hell contract and him losing everything. He couldn't do that. He needd to get his sister he couldn't-

But as he landed stomach first on the ground, Koh was starting to wonder if he had the luxury to think about that. What hits Newton was managing to get were

It was as he's thinking that that an arrow of ice struck Newton in the back. He fell, blood poured, and meters away stood Sayo, Lekismon by her side.

The severe expression terrified him a lot less than the sudden lack of twin cats.


	10. 10

Sayo couldn't explain where the anger was coming from. Was she angry at Koh, Koh who was failing her parents' game and couldn't even hack her security files without getting caught? Was she angry at Newton for beating him up, for being so strange lately? Her father for being busy and her mother for being tired? Taiga and his wistful eyes? Herself?

There were so many reasons. But thinking about them was probably unimportant. What mattered was the threat to her current team. And at the moment, that was Koh. And Newton.

Okay, to be fair, that was also her.

She watched Newton's fingers twitch and winced. Well, she had gotten him very close to puncturing a lung. Her bunny hadn't popped it like a balloon, she could aim. But still, it should have gotten a scream of pain, some response of horror.

It did not. Newton merely pulled himself back to his feet, aimed at Koh again.

"Lekismon," she said softly.

The arrows, made of water and tears and pain, hit the dirt and Newton for a second time. Sayo darted in, grabbed Koh by the back of his jacket, and ran.

She pretended there weren't tears, like she wasn't betraying anyone. The only real rule in Tamer Union was to never leave a teammate when you could.

Even if it wasn't one of those times, it stung.


	11. 11

Koh could officially say he had no clue what was going on.

He was still stuck on the fact that Sayo had literally carried him all the way to a portal with her small hands. She threw him on the couch and had just left him there, shaking and violet eyes burning bright. After all, they were close in height. Had to admire the strength in that.

Then she was rushing about her Tamer Home. His eyes caught a glimpse of her own, narrowed and frantic as she moved through the room, contacting numbers and setting up something. He couldn't see her computer, but whatever it was, the security was terrifying. It was going to be impossible for something to get in.

It might be even harder for him to get out. Koh looked around, hearing her mutter, to see two familiar cats curled up on the other side of the sofa. Their tails swished and they watched him with blue and purple eyes.

He tried to ignore it, looked at Sayo again. There was guilt in her eyes, the most human thing he had seen in her since the day they had met. Guilt and fear and anger. She was going to tear herself apart.

Honestly, after the toying around that had happened, he should want that. But he didn't. He wanted it to stop.

Now, Koh was not stupid. He was in fact very smart. Still, he was in a room with his rival, a cute girl who looked stressed out and somehow still cute and he wanted her to calm the hell down. So what did he do?

He walked over and moved to get in her face. Her hackles went up and she raised her hands to push him off. He leaned forward and kissed her, open-mouthed. For a moment, she was completely still, fight-or-freeze-or-flight taking over. Then she reacted and kneed him in the groin.

He probably deserved that one.


	12. 12

Cheeks burning, face alight, had he really just done that, the damned fool? She lowers her knee, debating on smashing it between his legs twice more for good measure. Seriously, where was his sense?

… Then again, her mind wasn't on twelve level panic button now. That was good.

Sayo let him fall to the ground, groaning in pain. "Do that again and I'll use a knife next time," she promised.

"D-Duly noted," he managed to wheeze. "You hit hard."

"Training benefits."

"You mean a privileged family," he countered, wiping his mouth.

Sayo's eyebrow arched. "Yours as well, or you wouldn't be here."

His lips twitched and she grinned, despite herself. Taiga was right. She really could get under people's skin. She frowned to herself. Got distracted by this guy, damn it. She straightened and went back to her computer, typing rapidly. Minutes passed and Taigas familiar face appeared on screen, hair rumpled. She flushed. It was a weekend for him. It was good to see that he remembered how to sleep in.

"Sayo?" No pang in her heart, nope, none. "What's the matter?"

Sayo hesitated and then went on. "Yuuya-san and Akiho-san… have they gotten any transmissions from up here lately?"

Taiga yawned and rubbed his eyes. He hadn't noticed Koh curled on the ground yet. Maybe she would get lucky and he wouldn't noticed until she had ended the call. "Mm… last I heard from them, no. The connection's still not back. What's happening?"

"Night Claw agents just tried to kill us like zombies," Koh deadpanned from the floor as he tried to stand up.

Sayo could have seriously kicked him again.

Taiga's eyes narrowed and he moved closer to the screen. "And who are _you?_ "

Sayo sighed. Men.


	13. 13

"Uh… a coworker?"

The problem with Koh was that he sounded genuinely confused. Probably because she had gotten him right where it counted which settled in his mind as 'she is not interested, step off', and accepted it.

He therefore was not prepared for Taiga's uh... ferocity, who immediately began interrogating him at light speed. Sayo tuned this out as best as she could, hearing the argument from a distance away as she went to the bathroom.

Okay. She had to reorganize what she knew. Her mother was dead exhausted, her father hadn't been home in weeks. Her friends at Night Claw were acting similar to zombies. She could always ask Koh if he had seen anything from Light Fang over the past few weeks, anything more unusual than there already was.

There was also Limit Valley. She had been there, if only for a brief moment. And faced a monster, but between her Plotmon and Lunamon there hadn't been much to worry about. It might be good for her to investigate again. Besides, it looked like the boys would be at it for a little while.

Then again… she shivered. Sayo crawled onto her bed, letting her Digimon hop up beside her. She had run on way too much adrenaline over the past few hours. She had panicked and given a true Light Fang a run for their money for reckless decisions. She needed to stop, slow down, and rest.

By the time the other two had slowed down, she was asleep. Koh took that moment to turn off the call (that guy could complain about being hung up on some other time) and go find somewhere to lay down. He was totally not going to watch her sleep, hell no. He'd screwed that up enough.

That would be creepy. Thankfully there was a spare futon and sheets. That would have to do.


	14. 14

When Koh awoke, it was to the closest thing he had seen to a death match since his parents arguing over custody rights. His chief was standing there, full, ruffled regalia, her blue hair untended, but eyes narrowed down at Sayo like she was a bug. Sayo was at her full, diminutive height, and not cowed. Had to be Julia's daughter then. Everyone else would be cowed by that glare. He was, and for once she wasn't looking at him.

"He's a boy."

"Oh so it's not because he's a spy." Sayo's voice made deserts seem wet. "Didn't hear this when you wanted to shove him on me in the marriage department."

"Of course not. Rivals were about as far as we expected you to get."

"Because of my winning personality?"

"Because of your pathological hatred of someone being better than you."

Koh winced. He so did not belong here now.

Sayo however, only looked amused. "Well, apparently someone has to look after me with you falling asleep at your desk and dad having pissed off somewhere."

Julia winced. "Yes, he and I are going to have a chat about that." There was a brief silence. Then Julia pulled her daughter to her chest and murmured something. Sayo returned the hug after a few seconds and Koh flushed with discomfort.

He wasn't jealous. Nope, not him.

Eventually, Julia looked at him and he stiffened up. "Good work," she said, voice neutral.

Koh licked his lips with nervous energy. "Ah… thank you ma'am." He shifted on the futon.

"Can you give a report?"

Report? Work? Sure, he could do that. That would get rid of the awkward. Yep, totally.

He couldn't have gotten that too off the hook though. He was going to Thriller Ruins.


	15. 15

Koh loved Thriller Ruins.

Maybe it was the darkness that always danced in his heart as a Night Claw. Perhaps it was the cooler temperature and the low hum of noise, quite unlike the dull roar and shameless curiosity of Sunshine. Though it was mostly because he was finally alone but for his digimon, he had to appreciate what he had.

If only he knew what he was looking for.

Sayo might know. Emphasis on 'might', emphasis on 'more than god damn likely' because of her position. Of course, she wasn't here. She was heading down the path to Access Glacier, following Digivice signals that Julia had shown them.

It sounded easy. It wasn't, probably. The further you went in, the more afraid you had to be. No one did smart things in Thriller Ruins, only deadly things. Only reckless things.

… Argh. That said nothing but bad things about him, huh?

Well, better that than continuous glares from an overprotective parent. He was kind of jealous. How many adults cared about her?

...Why did he even care?

Koh kicked a candlestick over, testing his power.

"Really wish I knew what was going on," he said to nobody.

Except somebody answered. "What's going on is that you're a very brave and very stupid boy, young Koh. And I'm sorry for that."

Chief Glare strolled into view, eyes red as Koh's own. Red then brown then mud violet-scarlet.

"You tricked us," Koh said softly.

"Well," Glare said with a sigh. "We tricked this human's wife. Probably."

For some reason, Koh doubted that.


	16. 16

Koh didn't believe Glare's words for a second, but he did believe one thing: he was likely going to die. He had no doubts about his lack of skill, nor on Glare's considering amount. But the words 'this human' made him wonder. If he was being controlled, would his skills be as good as Glare's, or would they be a mockery of them at best? If they were less… then he could at least escape.

"Probably?" he repeated, buying time. His hand has never left his Digivice because it never does in Thriller Ruins, no matter how much he wants to.

Glare, or whatever he was, smiled. He waved his hand and out from the shadows came a burst of flames, white and orange and gleefully swallowed up by Koh's Flaremon. His partner lunged forward after it, fangs gleaming and Ofanimon's lance spun out, no longer glowng gentle gold. The woman's aura was a brilliant sapphire blue and the dust coming from her wings made Koh's eyes water, coughing and wheezing.

"Afraid so, she's smart." Glare shrugged. "So's this one. Also loves his daughter very much. That was how we got him, you know. Just threatened her a bit too much and he caved. Doesn't appreciate it, he's quite noisy in here. But he'll quiet down, your friends have."

Koh pretended he was not completely disturbed by that choice of words, continuing to back towards the wall. All he had to do was get there and not die. Shouldn't be that impossible. Probably was though. Crap.

"Flaremon!"

His partner's response was quick enough, grabbing the lance instead of the flame and it singeing his hand but he brought up his knee (knee first, they expect the fist he remembers that from basic training as does his partner, thank _hell_.) and it hit right in the stomach armor. She stumbled in her heels and Koh pressed the click wheel center button.

Then he's squirming and kicking out because Glare's hands are pressed against his trachea. "Do you really want to make him kill his own apprentice?" The sheer levelness of his voice was beyond all right-

But Koh was too close. He could see something in his eyes, feel the slackening grip of those fingers.

"You wish," he whispered, activating the GateDisk.

Glare was a lot of things, but he didn't just quit.


	17. 17

He ends up rolling onto Sayo's floor, panting for air. Flaremon is wheezing in the Digivice, Kudamon rolling over him in an exaggerated wound check. Her Tamer Home is empty but for a tottering Phascomon. Said rotting teddy bear hops down to check on him but Koh forces his hand to wave, shaking his head almost hard enough to see stars. The creature tuts and he can tell without looking that the guy doesn't believe him worth a hoot. He eventually manages to roll over, massaging his throat.

"Well," he manages after a good few minutes of wheezing. "That was fun."

"Easy for you to say," Flaremon whines. He's never heard a giant cat-man whine like that. It's kinda weird and funny at the same time. He'll laugh later. "You weren't the one being attacked."

"Yes I was!" Koh chugs Phascomon's offered glass of water and wipes his mouth. "Just because it wasn't by a death angel does not mean I wasn't afraid for my life! Geez..."

"You weren't afraid enough."

Koh makes a face and then pauses. What about Julia? What about Sayo? Was Julia infected too? Were they? They were all alone in damn Access Glacier and he needed to tell them as quick as-

Could that weird dude contact them? Did he want to try?

The video call feed lit up and Koh made a face. Did he call her every day or something? Weirdo.

He answers if anyway and gets an expression of disappointment. "Oh. It's you."

"Help me," Koh says in reply, eye twitching madly. "I have to contact Sayo and I really don't think I can run all the way through Access Glacier right now. Glare might try and kill me."

The older male thinks about this. Then he makes a groan that sounded like a curse word.

"Akiho's not gonna be happy about this." He tucks a stray bit of his bangs under his goggles and chews on his lip the same way Koh himself liked chewing gum. "All right. What's the message?"

Koh bites back a sarcastic comment and tells him. Then, he goes to the stores. He's going to train, and then when Glare inevitably comes to choke his lights out, he's going to deck him and the angel and get some payback for this awful mission.


	18. 18

He didn't know getting help from overprotective papa wolf (which still needs explanation, still! And he'll probably never get it.) would be this easy. Maybe he needs to imply things about Sayo more often. It gets him in doors – no,no, no, that's a dick move and he's not that kind of person no matter who says what. Besides, none of it would be true, Sayo seems perfectly capable of getting in and out of everything like a ninja. He's just brute force extraordinaire.

Maybe he's more of a Light Fang than he thought.

Koh smiles to himself at the very idea.

Then the error message comes up on both of their screens.

"Shit," he whispers. Taiga's eyes are blown wide with fear. Then Koh hears his hands nearly break the keyboard.

"You know where they disappeared to, right?" the terseness, for once, isn't directed anywhere, not even at him. It's well appreciated. He nods and cuts the call because for once neither of them have to say anything, they just have to get moving. And move they do, so damn fast that the ice melts as Flaremon runs with him on one shoulder. They run and then he jumps from ice floe to ice floe and if his heart wasn't beating up to the mile Koh would tell him to stop ruining the environment.

Except it was. It was one of the few times in his life that he wasn't scared for just himself anymore and he wasn't sure he liked it.

Seemed like Flaremon did. For a moment, Koh feels himself in freefall as Flaremon bursts into light and power and an Apollomon and holy crap.

"Your feels man, not mine," is his digimon's reply. Koh wants to smack him with a newspaper.

As they dive towards a concentrated area of black and gold energy, Apollomon lands just in time for ChaosDukemon's spear arm to dive towards Sayo's unmoving body.

Koh, in a fit of uncontrollable rage, launches himself at Chief Julia before he can see it land.


	19. 19

Koh nearly lands a fist, but Julia is the commander of half of Tamer Union. Boy, she looks good on the throne. Her fingers sink into his wrist and he jerks without meaning to. He feels like something is splintering, a past feeling from when he used to destroy branches and clean lawns except now it's his arm and it hurts like a nightmare, even though he flies out of her hand just in time before it snaps. It's swelling, he can feel it. His brain kicks in again and he runs to Sayo. There is no hole, the crater Apollomon's had made in the ice was enough of a distraction, but she still isn't waking no matter how much he shakes her. He turns back to his rushing opponent.

Julia's eyes are strange and dull but her moves are as sharp as ever. It was like Glare but without speech and-

There is a loud thud and Koh scrambles for cover. He gathers soul and punches without thinking and-

Ow. There went that arm, yep, yep.

Koh grits his teeth, makes himself not topple over as Julia stumbles back. It's more of surprise than pain, he realizes because she doesn't look like she feels pain.

They're both going to die out here, aren't they?


	20. 20

The lance rushes towards them and Koh hops to the side like an ungainly rabbit, arm dangling and bring fresh pain. Apollomon scoops them up and Sayo's legs flop comically for roughly two or three seconds. Then her fingers twitch and she lets out a groan that could make a Gomamon blush. "Think I've got a concussion," she mutters.

"I don't think you'd be coherent if you had a concussion." Koh says this to avoid sounded like a sentimental fool and hugging her because being that still on a flatbed of ice for that long was terrifying. She looks over at him with a groggy displeased look, which is almost funny except he has to check her eyes are normal, no dilation, no signs of bad things. "Or awake."

She grunts. "Probably not. What's going on?"

"Your mom's trying to kill me." Sayo makes a face like she might push him off Apollomon herself and he adds. "And you."

Sayo grimaces. "I was wondering why I was out cold." She does sit up now and he's too relieved to stop her. "Scoot back."

"You're not jumping down there." He sure isn't jumping down there to help her, his arm is screaming.

She raises her Digivice. "Not right now anyway. Dianamon, Angewomon, LadyDevimon! Pin them!"

Her Digimon dive and she buckles, about to fall anyway.

However, Koh manages to catch her with his good arm and they watch as their Digimon make a giant, satisfying ice crater with ChaosDukemon's head as the centerpiece.

Nice. He likes this part of the contract.

She laughs and he likes that too.


	21. 21

It's in the middle of the most awkward fight in the history of ever that Sayo comes up with a plan.

"Down mom," she says like it's the most normal thing ever. "Knock her clear out-cold and run an anti-virus."

Koh stares. "She threw me and broke _my arm._ "

Sayo winces and then makes herself shrug. "She doesn't likely have the energy to repeat that and keep ChaosDukemon going. Mom's never had too much digisoul for that."

Koh scratches his head. "You're a bit of a cold kid, huh?" He didn't exactly know kids willing to fight their own parents.

Sayo grins, a bit of a forced smile. "Taiga-san worries about that too." Before he can form a witty instead of _envious_ response, she drops down and kicks her mother in the face.

He gapes and ChaosDukemon sways, as if he had been given a concussion. Koh collects himself and climbs one-armed to Apollomon's shoulder. "Get 'im," he shouts, even as Julia nearly collapses under the weight of her daughter's boots. It's a nice feeling, though not nearly as good as seeing his partner hit his former commander digimon in the jaw. Nothing beats that.

 _Serves you right for dropping me on this dumb mission._

He gets another fifteen seconds of satisfaction before the ground opens up beneath their feet and almost drags them down.

Lucky for them, Sayo has enough Digimon in good condition to keep them out of it..

"Just so you know," he manages once they're back on Union soil. "I'd really like less attempts on my life."

"Get a desk job," Sayo replies through her own coughing.

The words sink in before both start giggling.


	22. 22

Sayo doesn't appreciate being woken by someone else.

Alarms, sure. The sun? Sure. Nightmares? Also a yes.

But someone shaking her was something she did not like. It was too much like mouths yanking at an arm, being tugged in too many directions, memories from all across the universe-

So her socked foot slamming through the covers and into whoever had put their hands on her person was purely expected and they should have known better.

Taiga letting out a deep-voiced grunt of pain made her almost feel guilty. Almost. She's told him a hundred times not to do that… what is he doing here?

"Ow, Sayo," he finally says as she opens her eyes. "Glad to see you too."

She rubs her head. "Sorry… not much sleep." They had literally, her and Koh, come home and collapsed in various bedding areas.

"I heard." He sounds sympathetic. "I heard you had a concussion. It's why I woke you up."

"Got it looked at. 'Mfine." She doesn't mean to sound cross but she's _tired._ Tired and he's a silly. A major silly.

"You sure?"

"Taiga-san." She squints an eye open and flops back over. "Yes. Go talk to Mom. Or somethin'."

"What about that boy?" She thinks he's suspicious of so much.

"What about him?" She's going to deck Taiga in the face. She really is.

"Did he-"

She throws a pillow, only awake now from the sheer embarrassment. "No! Shut up!"

Something crashes upstairs and Koh curses like a sailor.

Taiga makes a muffled noise of _Not Approved_. Sayo rolls over and goes back to sleep.


	23. 23

Sayo has to wonder how she gets into these life-or-death situations.

Okay, she knows how and why but admitting it makes her feel seriously uncomfortable.

 _You chose this._

And she's always going to, she knows. The fight is hers to be in. Though having someone next to her that's human is very new. At least being able to stay beside them is new.

Her memories of Mirei are so fuzzed and weary these days. She wonders if she'll have them for much longer. Will she need to? Will Taiga stick around once she forgets entirely? Or will he finally move on? She wants him to. She really does. She needs it. But does moving on mean leaving?

"Sayo?"

She turns her head from her thoughts to see Koh, having finally fixed his shoes and finished shopping. "You okay?"

She swallows her discomfort and smiles. "Just have to fight my father. No worries."

He frowns. "Your mom doesn't want you to kill him."

"No, she wants to do it herself," she recites without thinking.

Koh reaches out and Sayo, for an instant, thinks he's going to try and kiss her again. He hugs her instead and doesn't speak. Then he lets go, red-faced and looking away.

"Sorry, I just..."

 _Just what?_

It bothers her that she doesn't know. It bothers her that she likes the hug and yet _has no idea_ what the hug was for.

So she swallows and manages a mute nod. There is no time to think about this. They have to go. To meet her father. To heal her mother. To feel good about themselves.

All selfish reasons to avoid communicating.

So, they step towards Center Bridge together. It's the only way to go.


	24. 24

Sunshine looks like death, Koh thinks. Its normal white and blue is black and red, like fresh black eyes and bruises after a beating beatings he never had, beatings someone had who just looked like him. He grits his teeth and then freezes. Sayo's fingers brush his and he follows her gaze. She points towards the walls, towards Pulsa, towards the friends he hadn't really known. He swallows and steps forward.

Something rushes him in that instant and he jumps aside, almost into Sayo's arms. Totally not embarrassing, nope. She seems too nervous herself to say anything. He shudders. "Great, fighting my friends again."

"Dungeon bypass?" she offered.

Koh blinks at her and then he finds himself smiling.

"You're brilliant," he says and means it. Her face flames up but she sobers quickly.

Moments later, Apollomon and Dianamon are crashing into the gate between them and the Union Room. The Knightmon don't stan a chance against a scythe's reach. The butterflies fade, even when Pulsa, Tonpei, and Cheetah chase them down the halls. He can actually hit them. He doesn't like them, but he does it anyway.

They can't waste too much energy though. They have to fight Glare and if Julia was any indication, this was going to be hell.


	25. 25

Koh has never wanted to fight his commanders. And now he has to do it for a second time.

Freaking. Great.

It doesn't help that Ofanimon has officially gone laughing mad and is perfectly willing to fire dark blasts at teenagers. (She is supposed to be a holy energy user what the fresh he-

He never thanks the six digimon allowance more than he does at that second because his SlashAngemon slams her lance out of her hand on a way that wouldn't be humanly possible.

Meanwhile, he's looked away for a few seconds and Sayo has flying kicked her own father in the face.

He's going to pretend that his pubescent hormones have less a grip on him than they do and that he's totally not screwed.

The best way to do that is to charge right after her and tackle the man into a screen. Unfortunately, he's a grown man and is perfectly willing to hit them both off. A very angry MirageGaogamon comes roaring into view but that doesn't stop anything as his former teammates have come running into the room.

He swears very loudly and stamps his foot. It's half in frustration, half in drawing every bit of DigiSoul he reasonably can out of his body as he summons four Digimon from his Digivice at once.

You aren't supposed to use six partners at the same time. Raise them sure not ave them fight. He doesn't give a hoot right now.

"Get your dad," he shouts at Sayo.

She looks at him once and something passes into purple eyes. It compels him to say, "I'm not gonna die."

Sayo just looks at him and then she nods. It's stiff but it means everything.

He just has to prove it.


	26. 26

Sayo really wants to keep looking over her shoulder and checking on Koh, but her father, the specialist at making people focus, kicked her right in the stomach. She supposes she's too short for the face but it's still an all out brawl. If her father had only started talking, she might believe this is training and not murder of a child by parent. She can't remember what the word is for that.

As is, she ducks and weaves and throws herself towards Ofanimon for Knightmon to catch with one armored hand. Glare hits the wall and grimaces in pain, which is a miracle considering Newton hadn't reacted in the slightest when she had decked him in the gut. She doesn't think about this. She runs for it, runs and takes advantage because her light would be against it.

Her light, which doesn't matter because she's dark as the true absence of brightness. She had died in the light. Mirei had died in the light.

Sayo was going to live in the dark.

There were two satisfying thuds. One from Ofanimon's thin, delicate skull, and the other from Glare's loud screech of pain from Dianamon sending her scythe swinging too far and-

The walls explode, loudly and violently. Everything goes white.


	27. 27

Run run runrunrunrun-

At least the past has prepared her for this.

Koh had had his back to the explosion. He'd had no idea what was coming. Though to be fair, she had had no idea herself and had only been saved by Knightmon's heavy armor and ducking into a ball. Her eyes smart.

She runs forward, towards the sound of laughter. Koh's hands bounce over her shoulders. She ignores how gangly and silent he is. She ignores that he's a little too heavy, breathing a little too fast.

She focuses on the laughter of the screeching thing so far ahead and smiles as they run deeper into the dark.

Idly, Sayo assumes her father is alive. She kind of hopes so. On some level at any rate.

It is only the song of scythes and sword and blows that are keeping her alive right now, she realizes, as she carries Koh with his Digivice on her belt.

She's going to run run run-

and then the blind dragon catches her scent and fires.

Soul bursts into real flame, melting flames, Koh's Dukemon thrusting spear forward. Apollomon's arrows are spewing, her own Rosemon dancing and grabbing at the biggest part of the tail she can and they just might die her fighting to save the world and it's actually really terrifying.

Sayo lets out a sigh and puts Koh behind a pile of rubble. "You'd think I would learn."


	28. 28

Koh wakes to enough sound and light to render him in shock, literally. Sayo goes flying over his head and rolls to the ground, catching herself and jumping to dodge a cannon blast.

"Die, Real Being!" he hears overhead and that galls him forward.

Dukemon snarls as Koh's own Soul unfolds. It takes everything he has to not lose it at the level of intensity from his Digimon responding made his head spin violently. He didn't even try to stand up. He should. To find Sayo. But he can't. He can't move.

She runs past him, fists burning purple like his own orange.

Two burst souls. Two lives could be cut short. If they didn't win. But they would win. They had to. They were.

She screeches.

The monster screeches back.


	29. 29

The battle ends with a great, hefty boom and a flash of light. The two of them sag against each other and watch the end, watch their Digimon collapse into piles, watch the monster disperse into pixels and look at the thing staring at them without eyes. Sayo looks at it so sadly. It's as though she's forgiven him for awful thoughts and attempted murder.

It just floats in their general direction. Then it vanishes slowly, wishing vainly for someone who Koh has never heard of before.

Sayo's head lolls on her shoulders, slumping on his neck. Koh shakes her gently with the tips of his fingers. When she doesn't respond, he takes a moment to breathe and not scream and picks her up with aching limbs. He keeps walking. The Digimon trail after until he stumbles through shoving twelve of them in his Digivice. She doesn't stir at all.

Koh doesn't think she's breathing.


	30. 30

Taiga is remarkably unchanged in person.

He makes it to the hospital when she is in ICU. Koh's not conscious for that, as he's also in treatment. Using that much Soul, particularly to Bursting levels, should have been enough to kill him. And it almost had, apparently. He was under for hours and he wakes up feeling like he hasn't slept in two months. Taiga's there with Julia and leaves not long after his eyes are capable of staying open.

"Don't mind him," Julia offers with a wry smile. "He's trying to keep from throttling my coworker."

"Your… your husband?" He chokes out, trying to remember how breathing and existing works.

Julia laughs a bit. "That too."

Koh struggles to put thoughts to words, feelings to movement. His fingers twitch, that's a good sign. Maybe. "S….saa…."

Julia looks at him with pity. It has to be pity, what else could it be? "They just finished. They can't risk waking her up yet, however."

"Will she..." Koh can't finish his sentence, literally.

Julia only smiles with her lips and doesn't reply.


	31. 31

Recovery is the worst.

Sayo limps everywhere she goes and gets tired. She's not used to this exhaustion. The last time she had been exhausted had been when she was dying and quite frankly, she'd rather not repeat that process for at least a few more years. That would be nice.

Taiga grabs her crutches and resists the urge to hug her too tight. Instead he lets her walk, limping and with aching armpits.

Koh apparently had set himself on fire with Burst Mode. What kind of Night Claw did that, now? Really. She was going to have to train him, give him some real endurance. He wouldn't be able to keep up with her otherwise… assuming he wanted to. She hoped he would, he was a fun opponent to play with, had lots of ideals and crazy thoughts.

He also looks at her and doesn't see anyone but her. Maybe her parents in the glint of a knife, but mostly he sees her.

Sayo finds she likes that plenty.


	32. 32

She sits at his bedside while he rests after another rehab day. Her mother sews up her hat with clumsy fingers. Dad's better, but he's not better enough to do it himself. So he keeps away. He's ashamed. He's afraid.

Poor man.

Her mother leaves to visit him eventually, calloused fingers being comb spokes. Sayo sits patient vigirl for Koh to wake up from his nap. Her Digimon are still healing. She can't leave for another few days of rehab. So why not sit here until they find her. Surely that's fine, right?

He opens his eyes and grins at her, bleary, tired. "Whatcha doin' on your feet?"

She grins back. "Waiting on you."

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ And with that, I leave you. This fic has been a lot of fun. I'm not entirely sure where these two will go from here, but if anyone has any ideas, feel free to message me about that. Thanks for all of your support!


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